Uso di estratti vegetali nei mangimi per l'alimentazione di galline ovaiole e conigli in sostituzione degli antibiotici

Responsabili di progetto

Francesco Gai, Jianming Tong

Accordo

CINA - CAAS-not in force - Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Bando

CNR/CAAS 2014-2016

Dipartimento

Scienze bio-agroalimentari

Area tematica

Scienze bio-agroalimentari

Stato del progetto

Nuovo

Proposta di ricerca

Antimicrobial compounds, especially chlortetracycline (CTC), are excellent growth promoters and provide good disease control. However, because of the risk of possible drug resistance in human pathogenic bacteria, and other adverse effects, efforts are being made in many countries to prohibit the use of all antibiotics for growth promotion. The use of antibiotic feed additives has been banned in the European Union (EU), and ongoing discussions to restrict their use outside the EU because of speculated risk for generating antibiotic resistance in pathogenic microbiota. Consequently, many approaches have been attempted to control or prevent the clinical diseases and maximize growth performance in poultry and rabbit. At present, the natural plant extracts are being paid great attention to their natural antibiotics properties by the virtue of their advantage of being natural. Among the natural extracts, polysavone extracted from alfalfa (Medicago Sativa L, APS) is an interesting candidate, it contains polysaccharide, triterponoid saponin, flavonoid, crude protein, moisture, ash and unknown factors. Plant polysaccharides definitely possess an immunomodulating effect in many ways, and they regulate the balance of the neuroendocrine immune network. The immune-enhancing function of APS has been studied in broiler chickens and swine in China. Previous studies had suggested that alfalfa saponins may prevent hypercholesterolemia, reduce egg production, and depress growth in mammals and birds. Otherwise other studies have shown that APS may depress abdominal fat deposition and serum lipid level with no adverse effect on the performance of broiler chickens and be beneficial to the growth of broiler chickens [1-4]. All these characteristics suggest that APS has the potential efficacy to improve antioxidation status and meat quality. In view of this, will be interesting to investigate the influence of APS on the antioxidation and meat quality of laying hens and rabbits in order to test the potential of plant extracts as alternatives to antibiotics. Additionally, the corresponding profile of CTC will be also investigated to ascertain the difference between APS and CTC.
References
[1] DONG, X.F., GAO, W.W., TONG, J.M., JIA, H.Q., SA, R.N. & ZHANG., Q. Effect of polysavone (alfalfa extract) on abdominal fat deposition and immunity in broiler chickens. 2007. Poultry Science, 86: 1955-1959.
[2] W. Deng, X.F. Dong, J.M. Tong, et al. Effects of an aqueous alfalfa extract on production performance, egg quality and lipid metabolism of laying hens. 2010. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 96:85-94.
[3] H.W. Liu, X.F. Dong, J.M. Tong, et al. Alfalfa polysaccharides improve the growth performance and antioxidant status of heat-stressed rabbits. 2010. Livestock Science, 131:88-93.
[4] X.F. Dong, W.W. Gao, J.L. Su, J.M. Tong, et al. Effects of dietary polysavone (Alfalfa extract) and chlortetracycline supplementation on antioxidation and meat quality in broiler chickens. 2011. British Poultry Science, 52:302-309.

Obiettivi della ricerca

The aims of the present study will be the followings:
1. To study and build the technology system for evaluating the efficiency of alfalfa extracts.
2. To evaluate the efficiency of alfalfa extracts in laying hens and rabbits and to observe the effective dose and maximum limit level for laying hens and rabbits.
3. To extend and apply the alfalfa extracts on the farm for validating the feasibility of alfalfa extracts for the replacement of antibiotics.

Ultimo aggiornamento: 24/05/2025